Examples of pouches for containing a beverage include various conventional pouches. Specifically, a pouch with a spout is disclosed in the following patent document 1 or 2.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-H10-202768
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2001-9744437
As shown in FIG. 11, a conventional pouch with a spout includes a pouch body made of a pair of flexible sheets 7 and also includes a spout 51 inserted into the pouch body. A reference character 70A indicates a heat sealing portion formed at the side ends and the bottom of the pouch body. A reference character 70B indicates a heat sealing portion formed at the top of the pouch body. By forming the heat sealing portion 70B, an opening at the top of the pouch body is closed and the spout 51 is fixed to the pouch body.
In the above-described pouch, e.g. product name is printed on the surface of the sheet 7, so that the pouch may be distinguishable from other products. However, many of the conventional pouches are made of a pair of sheets with linearly elongated sides, as shown in FIG. 11. Thus, in spite of contrivance in designs of the printing on the sheets, the designs of various products tend to be uniform. Further, because of the similar forms, distinction from other products cannot be made adequately.
A solution to this problem may be forming the pouch as shown in FIG. 9. The illustrated pouch P includes sheets 8 each formed with recesses 80 at the side ends, so that the sheet 8 has a narrow portion at the intermediate part in the vertical direction. The pouch P with such a form can be easily distinguished from the pouch shown in FIG. 11, thereby favorably improving the product distinction.
The above-described pouch P can be manufactured by a following method. First, a pouch body P′ as shown in FIG. 10 is made. Specifically, a pair of sheets 8 is prepared, and a pair of gussets is placed between the sheets. In this state, the side ends and the bottom of each sheet 8 are sealed by heat into a predetermined form (see heat sealing portion 81). Then, the sheets 80 (and the gussets) are cut to form the recesses 80, whereby the pouch body P′ is obtained. After making the pouch body P′, a spout 51 is attached to the pouch body P′ and a content (e.g. beverage) is poured into the pouch body P′. Finally, a cap 52 is attached to the spout 51 and then the upper ends of the pair of sheets 8 are sealed by heat. In this way, the pouch P shown in FIG. 9 is obtained.
Typically, manufacturers produce a plurality of pouches successively. In this case, a plurality of pouch bodies P′ are made in advance and prepared, and thereafter, transferred for the process to attach a spout, one by one. This transfer can be automatically performed by a proper supplying mechanism. Specifically, a system is made so that the plurality of pouch bodies P′ are set in a predetermined supplying magazine, and then a belt conveyor transfers the pouch bodies P′ for the attaching process of the spout, one by one. However, such manufacturing method causes following problems.
First, each pouch body P′ includes an opening at its top. Thus, in storage or transfer of the pouch body P′, dust may come into a pouch body P′ through the opening.
Second, it is not always easy to accurately set a plurality of flexible pouch bodies P′ to the supplying magazine. Further, it is not a very efficient operation to accurately pick out pouch bodies P′ one by one from the set position for transferring each of them to the next process. Thus, the above-described manufacturing method of pouches is less speedy and unsuitable for improving productivity. Further, the system for such manufacturing method is complicated and thus the cost is expensive.
Third, when transferring a pouch body P′ by the conveyor, the pouch body P′ may change its posture due to vibration of the transfer machine. As the pouch body P′ has a narrow portion at the intermediate part in the height, it is difficult to properly guide its sides. If the posture of the pouch body P′ is not stable during transfer, the operation at the next process may not be performed properly.